Day 6

In the morning, we headed to the village of Patate, a town located near an active volcano, and did a cultural mapping exercise, which consisted of us asking the locals questions about their town. For lunch were had arepas, which could be described as a pumpkin tasting bread, cooked in corn husks. They only cost 25 cents each and were very tasty.

Upon our return to the hacienda, a group of us decided to take a hike in search of a waterfall that was apparently nearby. We walked through the mountains for over an hour, stopping to ask locals every so often where the waterfall was. No one really knew exactly where the waterfall was, so we never ended up finding it, but the hike was worth it. It was intense though; we were walking in the Andes mountains!!!! Along the way we saw locals washing their clothes in streams and farming the mountainside; we were really in the heart of Andean life, and it was such an amazing thing to see. On the way back we almost had a run in with two bulls. One was walking in front of us and the other in back. We were walking slowly and quitely, hoping not to startle either one. All of a sudden, the bull in back started kicking and looked as if it was about to charge. One of my friends shimmied under a wire fence and another started scaling the mountain side, while the rest of us just kind of stood there in disbelief. We quickly made it past the bull and corralled in behind a wire fence. We escaped, but were terrified!!!

We returned to the hacienda, exhausted, and had dinner. That night, a few of us found a small builing, sat on top of the roof, and star gazed. As it got later, the sky became clearer, and I have ever seen so many stars in my entire life!